(link for email
harvesting bots)This page consists of editorial opinion and does not represent
legal information or legal advise. Of course, why would you be on the Web if
you were looking for legal advise? (And on something called "The
Telemarketing Scum Page?") This page focuses on outward telemarketing by
organizations using predictive dialing equipment.

Thank you for visiting.

Federal Telemarketing Rule (US)

The list is active, and can be reached at the following links:

Signing Up for the Federal "Do Not Call" List (US)

The list is effective in reducing calls. Signing onto the list will not
generate additional calls. The list accepts residential phones and cellular
phones.

This can be done on-line or via an 800 number. The on-line technique requires
an email address. This is used for a "challenge-response" procedure,
so use a valid email address. It will not put you on a spam list and
the email address is not saved.

SUMMARY

Limits abandoned calls (hanging up on victims), and "dead air"
hold time

Requires Caller-ID information

Has meaningful fines ($11,000 per violation is described.)

The latest information is that telescum will be moving their operations to
making "colorable" claims to one of the exceptions:

1. Existing business relationship

Keep at least one telescum-friendly number in you wallet! My
favourite is a payphone number, but there are
others. Recently, I've been getting requests for my phone number about once a
fortnight, and I like to be obliging.

Until the government goes after these people, the best strategy is to provide
them with bogus "home phone number" information. Best strategy is to
identify one or two pay phones. Here are the
types of phone numbers:

Payphones

(anti-telescum 'positive') - The advantages are that people may
enjoy answering a telescum call on them and predictive dialers don't parse them
out (if they ring through). list of payphones here or search
for <payphone list>. Keep a couple of these numbers in your
wallet!

(anti-telescum 'positive') - These are overseas calls that don't
require the telescum to dial a country code. They just place the call, get an
answering machine at a real Tiki bar, and keep trying.

Fax machines

(anti-telescum 'neutral') - A fax machine call won't go through, but
predictive dialers quickly sort these out. I use them for businesses which I
think are using a phone number as a personal identifier.

Business phones with Voicemail Hell

(anti-telescum 'neutral') - Predictive dialers will usually parse
them out because of the long introductory message, and so an operator will
never hear them.

Special voicemail lines

(anti-telescum 'slightly positive') - These include pager lines,
business "back door" lines, voicemail access numbers, etc., most of
which have very short introductory messages. If the line has a short
introductory message ("Enter your mailbox
code"), a predictive dialer will treat this as a live person and
hand the call off to a live operator.

Important The "Existing Business Exception" is
being used as an excuse to call people who make any call to a business.
Until the Feds fine one of these operations $11,000 per call, expect this to be
exploited.

Use caller ID blocking.

If you don't have automatic caller ID blocking, get it.

Call "800" numbers from an office phone.

For calls to "800" numbers, tell them "Place me ON your 'Do
Not Call' list." and act like you're recording their name on the computer.

2. Intrastate Calls (in-state telemarketers)

This turned out to be a non-starter. is a second big loophole. In states
with state "Do Not Call" lists, it is doubtful if the
telescum would bother, but several states still do not have
"Do Not Call" lists. More significantly, Federal
jurisdiction still applies to in-state telephone calls.

3. Charities

now more than ever run; don't walk from charities which use
telescum. Whatever the cause, there are always groups which don't use
telescum. (They are usually applying a higher percentage of your donation to
their cause anyway.)

4. (Political calls are also excepted, but it's hard
to run a sales operation under the guise of politics.)

Usually they restrict their cold calling operations to surveys which make
it difficult to identify the candidate. Nevertheless, if someone's stupid
enough to campaign with telescum, you already know who to vote for!

If email spam is any guide, expect telemarketers to use various tricks to
circumvent (or more likely defy) the law. Expect off-shore operations, more
hidden identity, and fraudulent statements of your having "opted-in"
to the call. Also, expect commercial calls "linked" to charities
with statements like, "A "percentage" of our profits go to
charity."

The FTC "donotcall" homepage is fairly simple
to use. It requires a valid email address. The FCC uses it for
their "challenge" response, so use a real email address that you
intend to use. The email address is not given out. (If you are
concerned about the opportunity for the Feds to collect your email address,
then use a valid temporary or throw-away addy., but you need to actually
retrieve the confirmation email.)

(Note: The "challenge" response is a long URL. Click on the URL
when you get the email. If you get a "information is defective"
message, then you have to assemble the long URL onto a single line, and try
again. I think most browsers handle this automatically, however.)

Offshore Telemarketers

When this was written, offshore telemarketers were not really a problem The
"No Identity" section of this website had the unexpected effect of
holding the telescums' clients liable for violations. Very few businesses will
trust an offshore call center at the risk of $11,000 per violation fines.

HOW TO COMPLAIN

Telemarketers help the economy -- all they need is your support in doing
so. -- An $11,000 fine is a good place to start!

The specific circumstances for each call vary. Factors include:

Whether you are on a "do not call" list.

If you had previously requested that they do not call and you documented
that request.

If their call (the sales portion of their call) fits within an exclusion

The cognizant enforcement agency

Since these are specific circumstances, I can't offer generic advise. Actually
I can offer generic advise; just not good generic advise.
But good instructions are found at the various Federal and State agencies
concerned with the "do not call" lists. Links to the state
lists are found at the federal donotcall.gov/ list.

Previously CRTC rules established lists for calls by that telemarketing
organisation. Needless to say, with over 90,000 organisations qualified to
make calls, this was a total joke.

INTERNATIONAL STATUS OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA

STATUS IN EUROPE

A directive of European Convention on Human Rights requires Member States to
make a choice between banning completely direct marketing calls to
"subscribers" without their prior consent, or banning them only to
"subscribers" who do not wish to receive such calls.

Apparently companies who obtained your number through dealing with you (e.g.
utility companies) can still use the information for their marketing purpose,
but they are obliged to maintain lists of people who request not to be called.

From the TPS website:Organisations with which you have an ongoing relationship, for example those
who regard you as a customer, (or in the case of charities - a donor) may well
gather your consent during the early stages of your relationship with them and
will therefore be entitled to call you even if your number is registered on
TPS, unless you have previously told them specifically that you object to them
calling you for marketing purposes.

There is apparently not yet protection from SMS spam.

INDIA

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in May, 2005, submitted its
report to the government relating to telephone directory enquiry services,
describing privacy issue and a "do-not-call" registry, as in the US
and Canada. Also in May, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is finalising its
guidelines for banning banks from making unsolicited calls to prospective
credit card customers. A few banks have already started working on a
"do-not-call" registry.

ANDRE-TASCHA LAMME WHO MADE A MINI-HOBBY OF SUEING TELESCUM

Here's the link,
killthecalls.com to Andre-Tascha Lamme who made a
mini-hobby of sueing telescum. NPR reported that he collected
about $6000 to partially defray his expense. The telescum called him
"money-grubbing". Presumably nobody informed Mr. Lamme that these
particular telescum are personally exempt from all state and Federal
Do Not Call laws.

Apparently he received calls, mostly from mortgage refinance brokers who made
the economic decision to ignore the Do Not Call laws because of the
relatively high rate of return on successful sales. (As with all telescum
"deals", if it really is attractive, just take that deal
elsewhere.)

The profit from the exercise is nominal (highest award was $4500), but that's
just the monetary award. As the Mastercharge ad says, "satisfaction from
kicking a telescum in the b___s (bank accounts), Priceless."

Okay, back to the old stuff which I hadn't revised yet...

Why I Changed This Page ("What's New")

The old page was more of the "convince the caller you're crazy" sort
of thing. This page is more focused on providing information; i.e., how to
reduce the intrusion.

Two purposes of this website:

To explain techniques for substantially reducing calls

To focus on their economics

1. The Economics

(Hanging up does not work.)

"We shut 'em up and then we shut 'em down." - Bruce
Springsteen, Racing in the Street

Telemarketing, like prostitution, works if it is economical. The response
of telemarketers to "just hang up" only facilitates the economy of
telemarketing. Hanging up does not work. By hanging up, you let them
spend only a nominal amount to interrupt your evening.

but.. Telemarketers are extremely cost sensitive. They need to complete
as many calls as quickly as possible until one of their victims becomes a sales
"hit."

2. The Strategy

Increase their cost of making that call to the point where it's uneconomical.

Take the philosophy of SuSE (a Linux distribution firm) -- "Have a lot
of fun." Try to find out what keeps them on the line and think of
ways they can be discouraged. But most of all, make a game of it and have fun!

3. What to Do - get blacklisted !!

This is impractical for most people. Businesses almost always give
litigious people superior service and treat them with respect. Unfortunately
it takes considerable dedication to win. So on to the other three..

2. Be a "non-cooperative" target.

Not irate (that's cooperating!), but:

Consume time.

(Carefully) make defective transactions.

Discuss their labour issues.

3. High tech blacklisting

4. Staying off their lists

The Easiest Method

Just screen calls, using Caller ID. "Unavailable" indicates T-1
lines, used by most telescum. T-1 lines are also used by others, but that's
what answering machines are for.

From Diane G.:

I have caller id and screen my calls - almost all unwanted sales calls come up
as something like "unavailable" or "no caller id," so I
don't pick them up. I also rarely pick up calls whose phone numbers I don't
recognize. After awhile, friends and family know to identify themselves and
give you time to pick up. I don't know why more people don't do this. If they
did, it would make telemarketing obsolete. The unwanted calls, just rings,
actually, get fewer and fewer. I just ignore the rings.

You need either a real answering machine or caller ID for this to work.

Note that "restricted" calls are usually private lines (friends) and
telescum generally stay within legal harassment hours. You really don't need
caller ID for this, but then you'd have to let all calls go through the
answering machine.

4. Details of The Four Ways to Get Blacklisted

1. Become a legal nuisance.

As mentioned above, forget it unless you want to make a major hobby of it.

Terminal hold - The person in charge (who is very interested) needs
to come in from the garage. "You won't hang up on her, will you?"

Consume more time.

Discuss their labour issues, including pay, how long the average person
works there, what happens to those who complain, minimum wage laws, reporting
illegal activities after they quit.

Be aware of automatic blacklisting. (You want that!)

4. Staying off their lists

No Information

Try to do "800" dialing from something other than a home
telephone. If it says, "dial from home," don't!

(note: Use a payphone for special "confirm" receipt of a credit card
sounds good but doesn't really work. If you must use a payphone for receipt
confirmation, expect to verify your identity a few days later in order to have
your purchase approved. Fortunately, you'll probably be at someone's business
location when that happens.)

Typically these are insurance companies, utilities and creditors. If you
find some original source has your number in their database, update their
information with inaccurate information. Inaccurate information is the
most efficient way to make your number "disappear" from their lists.

Call anyone who keeps a record of your home phone number.
"Update" their lists by giving them a fax number (or whatever). Give
them a "work" phone number (even if it's your home number) so they
can reach you if the need arises. (Include an extension, such as
202-123-4567 x12, so your number doesn't end up on a predictive
dialing queue anyway.) Original sources include:

health insurers

other insurers

utilities

credit card companies

the phone company (oops!)

one clue that you're on a list: you'll either get a request to confirm your
phone number or what they refer to as a "courtesy call". If you get
one of these "courtesy calls", call back later and "update"
their information.

Misinformation

In general it doesn't hurt to give bad statistical data! Do you want to live in a statistical world?

Give fax numbers to businesses collecting phone numbers. (You may
also wish to give a bona-fida number as a "work" number if you think
they really may need to reach you.)

better yet.. - Keep a couple of working pay phone numbers in your wallet for the purpose.
(Many don't receive calls, so you need to verify them with a cellphone.)

Give absurd data when filling out forms for Customer Tracking Cards (mostly
provided by low-end supermarkets). Obtain multiple cards (to further reduce
the quality of the data). Give bad address data, even if they claim to have an
"opt-out" mailing list. I get unbased requests for my phone
number about once a fortnight. I hope someone at the 69th St. Terminal is
answering all of my calls for me on the payphones there!

5. How Automatic Blacklisting Works

Automatic blacklisting is the systematic removal of troublesome phone numbers
from lists of valid numbers used by telemarketers.

What is it?

If a number repeatedly shows up as troublesome, the number is removed from
a list of valid numbers. "Troublesome" numbers cost too much in line
usage, equipment usage, and labour costs.

Most of these are simply bad numbers; e.g., disconnected lines, data lines,
and businesses on residential lists.

"Invalid" Numbers

If your number consistently shows up as a non-working number, it will be
deleted. This is one reason to not answer ("hello") more than once
per call.

"Bad" Victims

Troublesome victims are first placed on a "call again" queue. So
theoretically, you would get repeated calls for the same campaign. BUT after a
few of these calls, the number is flagged for removal from their master
lists. Usually two or three calls is all it takes. An example of
"troublesome" is keeping the telemarketer on the line for a long
time. (As far as I can tell the callers aren't aware of this. They just
figure you get called repeatedly.)

The flunky is typically told by the telemarketing company that these numbers
will be called back. This is generally true but...
After a few attempts the number is automatically flagged as
"invalid". i.e., the number is automatically blacklisted by that
telemarketing company!

6. Summary of Things to Do

This permits you to go
through all of the motions of accepting a long distance service plan and not
get the plan. Then make sure you select a
"no-fee no-minimum" plan.

Don't say "hello" more than once.

Their call progress detection equipment partly depends on
frustrated victims answering multiple times during the pause.

Consume time.

Try to consume as much time as possible,
provided it is convenient to you. The idea is to get your number
blacklisted. See Consuming Time, below.

Experiment

Try to see what happens, for example, if you ask
not to be recorded. (in-state telemarketing calls)

A suggestion from SuSE Linux Software:

Have a lot of FUN!

7. FRCA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) and Marketing

The FRCA (US) provides for an "opt out" procedure for the
purpose of blocking credit reporting agencies from releasing marketing data.
This consists of a single 800 (actually 888) phone number for the three
major agencies.

To "opt out", call the Tri-Merge number for
"opting out" of release of marketing information by the credit
reporting industry.1-888-567-8688 . This
"opt out" procedure must be renewed every two years, so it
makes sense to call about once a year.

8. Consume Time!

Show Interest

Their strategies are to hit as many victims as
possible until they get a sale. They won't waste 20 minutes on someone who is
obviously just consuming time.

Some of the more "profitable" operations actually encourage their
operators to spend time with their "marks". This works to your
advantage as well, because if you show enough interest in their product or
service (lack of service), they will help you waste their time.

Terminal Hold

"But you know the last time he came in
from the garage, the telemarketer hung up on him. You won't do that, will
you?"

Terminal Hold

Put the caller on hold, but show an interest in
the product first. Return to the phone often until you are finished, so they
don't wonder if you forgot about them.
Don't "feel sorry" for the organization after keeping them on hold.
They obviously never made an attempt to limit their calls to those who
requested such calls.

Give Up

Put the caller on hold and leave - if you don't have
time for further action.

TALK

Talk about whatever is on your mind. This works best if
you are able to continue what you are doing (cooking, computer, etc.) when the
caller strikes.

Ask Questions

(Same as above, but ask about every detail of
the product you can think of.) Warranty details, materials, what happens to
the waste. Anything.

Involve the Family

Teach your 5 year old how to talk on the
phone. It's fun for the kid and entertaining for the caller. Teacher wants to
prescribe Ritalin? Try Telephone Therapy instead.

Slow 'em Down

"Speaka only small English. Please to
talk very slowly." But wait until they believe you're interested.
Otherwise, "no speaka English" is an immediate tipoff for them to
move to the next call.

"Please talk louder"

Keep phone far from mouth.
Don't be insistent that the caller talk louder until after you show a
firm interest in their product. The requests to talk louder must be repeated
often because the caller realizes he/she is interfering with others in the
boiler room.
A side effect is that the caller will likely adjust the receive volume on the
phone to hear you. If you later speak up, you will come in LOUD AND CLEAR.

If you like the pitch

see if someone else will match the deal
and buy from them instead. But ask lots of questions first.

10. What Not to Do

Don't be obscene or offensive.

The caller doesn't really care and
it tips them off to go on to the next victim. Besides, you need to get
them to spout obscenities. The caller, like other prostitutes, is
usually a pawn, hired by the telemarketing organization. It's the organization
that targeted you. Keep the telemarketer on the line longer, at the expense of
their organization.

Actually, despite the fact that the person calling you doesn't give a rat's
(whatever) about their "marks" (you!) and are often liars, they
aren't the enemy. Ultimately, it's their employer and the scum who use
telemarketing services that targeted you.

Confidentiality

Don't give any credit or other confidential
information to someone who calls on the phone. Some criminals use
telemarketing techniques to get information for theft purposes. Actually it
helps if you give them the information they request, provided it's
incorrect!

(not much of a "don't" here, but...)Don't give them a hard time at first

The first thing to do is show interest. Then they'll gladly spend time on your
call, which is what they're paid for.

11. Automated Calls

These are illegal in many areas, but the law doesn't seem to stop them.
Mechanized calls are now being used to vet "good" numbers by
"war dialing" (scan) entire exchanges.

Expect a "please press 1 if interested." followed by a pause,
followed by "We're sorry, but all of our operators are busy. We will try
to reach you later."

Since mechanized telemarketing calls are rarely used for quasi-legal purposes,
the subject is addressed on a separate page.
(posted 16 Oct 02)

12. Charities

I suppose that, "the means justify the ends. We're having a hard time
raising money, so let's resort to telemarketing."

Listen to their spiel, and explain that this is interesting, but the only
problem is that you make it a practice to never support
organizations which resort to telemarketing practices. Your money will go
elsewhere. Also, ask details of how the telemarketing operation is compensated
and who, in the charity itself, would be a contact.

I had one professional solicitor ask me if I intend to punish the
charity for calling. "That's right. I'll give my money to someone
else."

Remember, it's not uncommon for the sleezeball charity to get 25 cents on
the dollar generated by telemarketers.

13. Phone Tactics used by Telemarketers

Repeat Naming ("signifying")

This intimidation tactic
varies, but a favorite tactic is repeatedly calling your name. It's not enough
that they are disturbing you -- they have to make sure your attention doesn't
wane. Discussion at Telescum "Repeat Naming" or Signifying
Tactics

No Identity (Identifying only their
clients)

With the advent of the new telecommunications law, the slimier operations
have taken to avoiding giving their identity. You should always know
with whom you are doing business. The scum are working for a telemarketing
company which is legally an agent.

Always ask "who are you working for?" followed by
"who is your employer?" When you still get bullschidt answers
(you will), immediately ask to speak with a supervisor.

Explain that you fully expect honesty from anyone you do business with.
"Who is your employer?" is totally unambiguous in its meaning. You
know the identity of a realtor and a broker, and expect at least the same of a
'business' who approaches you.

Let others know to always identify the calling company prior to
talking, even if they will eventually purchase the product.

Asking Permission to Call Back

Usually this is used with
solicitations to businesses. Ask how to be added to their
"Do Not Call" list.

Surveys

There seems to be a group of businesses attempting to
secure information to be used for telemarketing lists. If you suspect this,
you want to do what you can to make it crystal clear that your number should be
blacklisted!

Acting Offended

Usually it's an act, but simply ask what they
do to determine who wishes to receive unsolicited phone calls.

14. A Word of Caution About Some Tactics

Giving the Wrong Address

It is not recommended that you order
products for delivery to a fictitious address. If you list your phone number
in the phone book with your address, it's a simple step to look you up in a
"reverse directory". In any case, the telemarketer could attempt to
locate you and then attempt to charge you. If the product is a newspaper
subscription sent to a shelter, you may not object to paying if caught, but be
careful.

Accepting Obligations

Some telemarketers state obligations
for missed appointments or the like. At that point, cancel the order (even
though you wouldn't make it anyway) and indicate that you don't want to do
business with them because of their punitive attitude toward customers.

15. Requesting "Do Not Call"

The idea was to be "added" to a "Do Not Call"
list. Now this is superseded by the advent of a national
"Do Not Call" list. Still if you have a business
relationship, with the telescum's client, you need to get on
their "Do Not Call" list.

Red Tape

Ask to be provided with a copy of the sponsor's
do-not-call list policy. Then ask to be placed on (not off!) both the
sponsor's do-not-call list and ask for a written confirmation of this.
You also might ask to be on the telemarketing company's
do-not-call list, but it's easier to get blacklisted. For details, see
Putting An End To Telephone
Solicitations which includes a form to keep records of such requests.

Most corporations don't especially appreciate their vendors and sales
departments creating legal trouble. Here are instructions on getting the attention of the legal
department of a large corporation.

16. State "Do Not Call" Lists

Several US states have compiled "Do Not Call" lists. These
are "opt out" lists of phone numbers that are not supposed to be
called. These seem to be working, especially where enforced by state
authorities. Missouri has shown me
why telescum tend to stay away from there.

If you do subscribe to these lists, make sure you do not include correct
matching name and address information!

17. Keeping Their Numbers

If you have the time and patience, add a PDA "memo" entry for a list
of phone numbers of businesses which may collect phone numbers. So if the
supermarket or department store asks for a home phone number, you can give them
one of their own numbers. Or just look over and see what their local number
is. Of course if you find they use the number as an account identifier, you
can update the information (with your favorite payphone or fax number).

Better yet, just use numbers of a few pay
phone that accept incoming calls. Or be creative and provide a Pacific Island phone number or Caribbean number which have area codes
dialed in the North American Numbering Plan.